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UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
LITIGATION RELEASE NO. 14917, May 23, 1996
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION v. BENJAMIN REX MOSES
H-95-4664, USDC SD/TX [Houston Division]
The Securities and Exchange Commission ("Commission")
announced that on May 20, 1996, in United States District Court,
Houston, Texas, a permanent injunction was entered against
Benjamin Rex Moses ("Moses"), formerly a registered
representative with H. D. Vest Investment Securities, Inc. ("H.
D. Vest"). Without admitting or denying the allegations in the
Commission's complaint, Moses consented to be enjoined from
future violations of Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933,
and Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule
10b-5 thereunder. Moses was also ordered to pay disgorgement in
the amount of $474,900 plus prejudgment interest; however,
payment of all disgorgement was waived based on the defendant's
demonstrated financial inability to pay. Additionally, the Court
did not impose a civil penalty based on Moses' financial
inability to pay.
The Commission's complaint, filed September 29, 1995,
alleged that Moses violated the federal securities laws in the
operation of Physicians Investment Club ("PIC"), an investment
club he organized and over which he exercised complete
discretionary authority, a practice that was prohibited by H. D.
Vest, and in the fraudulent management of the accounts of a
retired couple who had told Moses they needed income from their
accounts to live on. The Complaint also alleged that Moses
misappropriated funds from both the PIC account and the accounts
of the retired couple for his own use. Moses is currently serving
an eight-year sentence in a Texas state prison based on his
criminal conviction for the same activities alleged in the
Commission's complaint.